Foodiva's Kitchen: Get to know me

Get to know me


Welcome to Foodiva's Kitchen. Yes, this is my blog you're looking at and I know you're curious about me because that's why you're now here reading this. No need to be embarassed, we're all friends here (you may not know me now but come back often enough and I assure you, we will be friends).

I'll make it easy on you, so here are a few things about me:
  • I live in Brunei Darussalam on the island of Borneo in Southeast Asia. I thought I'd better get that out of the way because quite a number of people think I'm a big city girl living under the bright lights. Well, that life used to be mine too, but now I'm living the simple life in a quiet village called Bebatek-Kilanas. It's a good life, peppered with lots of laughter. Too much, but that's actually a good thing.
  • I'm the sole author of this blog, Foodiva's Kitchen, which has been up and running since 2010. It was as a result of browsing through too many food blogs and kitchen design sites. When I saw this picture of a red kitchen one day, I thought, "That is one helluva kitchen, fit for a Diva". Of course, I imagined that Diva would someday be me, and guess what, when I moved into a new home the following year, that kitchen indeed became mine
  • I am an adventurer at heart. I seek things that make my heart beat that bit faster - loving unconditionally, for one. Also mountain-climbing, scuba diving, white-water rafting, Zumba, long-distance biking, and running. But I also seek zen through yoga, plenty of reading, making sure my chakras remain open (very hippie-ish, I know) and yes, pottering about in the kitchen. 
  • I am a scientist by training and have always loved science from a young age. Why do I mention this? Well, understanding science well has been a tremendous help in the kitchen, as I later found out.
  • Okay, let's talk culinary skills. I am a self-taught cook. Never been to culinary school, never listened to my mother, grandmothers or aunts when they tried to pass me their cooking secrets all those years ago. Okay, I'm just going to say it, I had never been that interested in developing my meagre cooking repertoire until.....I started this blog. Funny how life has come full-circle. Now I would call my mother and harass all my aunts to double check family recipes and thankfully, they are more than happy to help. Perhaps more relieved than happy.
  • It took a while, but I eventually figured out the concept for this blog, and that is 'being adventurous with food'. No, not in a molecular gastronomy sort of way, not even in a Heston Blumenthal 'seeking perfection' kind of mentality, but more in taking traditional recipes and putting my unique, creative twist on it. New flavor pairings, and a new way of presenting the old classics. As far as I'm concerned, there can never be perfection in cooking as there's always a better recipe, ingredient or cooking technique to be developed around the corner. The important thing is that I'm having tremendous fun doing this and I want to take you all for the ride. :-)
  • I have the biggest, often bothersome sweet tooth, so you will see a lot of sweet stuff, baked stuff, frozen stuff, generally enamel-rotting stuff on this blog. More so than savory stuff. But I do try.
  • So my life story is that I fit in nowhere yet belong everywhere. I've always strived to think outside the box, but I do join online cooking groups to challenge myself to conform - well, a little bit. Admittedly, my quirkiness often manifests itself in my kitchen creations and I'm okay with that. The good (or bad) news is, I'm not about to change anytime soon.
When something tickles me, this is how I laugh
  • If you're a first-timer here, thank you for taking the 5 minutes to read all about me. For returning visitors, thank you so much for loyally checking what's been cooking in my kitchen, and for leaving all sorts of lovely comments even though some of you love savory stuff more than the sweet stuff. Even sarcastic comments are welcomed as long as they are funny and not completely offensive. Because I'm cool like that (flips hair back from the shoulders).
  • Everything you read here, this is me. The real me. To get in touch with the real me:
1.  You can shoot me an email here: foodivaskitchen (at) gmail (dot) com. I love receiving emails and answer each one as they come. That's because I haven't received hundreds in one go - yet.
2. You can have a public or private conversation with me on Twitter. My handle is @Divababu.
3. You can come and visit me in Brunei. Once you've booked your ticket, let me know and I'll meet you at the airport upon arrival. Seriously.

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